[NTLK] Purchasing a newton

Lord Groundhog LordGroundhog at gmail.com
Sun Sep 5 11:46:38 EDT 2010


~~~ On 2010/08/19 22:27, Tony Kan at tonykan at xtra.co.nz wrote ~~~

> Linking a particular task or meeting to a Name is only necessary in a
> commercial
> sales environment when you want to review a contact history so I would have
> thought MoreInfo would be overkill for anyone else.  TimeTrax does give you
> better weekly and monthly display screens.


Just a comment on this.  Commercial environments aren't the only reason to
use linking tasks, meetings and phone calls to a contact.

First, the Newton is ideal for therapists and counsellors, making it
possible to keep session-notes unobtrusively and file them easily, linked
with the client's Names card and with the appointment.  All calls and
appointments can be linked back to the Names card too.  And of course all
that material can be printed out to produce written files if that's what you
want.  

Second, a little lateral thinking can work wonders.  To give just one
example:  

Step 1:  create Names cards for each teacher/class
Step 2:  create term outlines, lecture notes, lab notes, project notes,
small group activities, tutorials, reports, reading lists, bibliographical
notes, or whatever, for each teacher/class, and **link all those back to the
teacher/class**.   (When you're doing more than one module of bio or chem or
physics, you can get lost as to which assignmnet belongs where sometimes.
Or maybe that's just me.)
Step 3:  create folders for "Finished Work" if that helps.  Move finished
work to ...well, you get the idea.  Perhaps also create folders for previous
years if you're likely to want to refer back to previous years' work;
otherwise, move previous years' work into a permanent off-Newt location.
Step 4 (optional):  create folders (using More Folders if you need) to
create folders for each class OR just for each term or year.
STEP 5 (NOT OPTIONAL!):  back up.  Back up!  BACK UP!

If only the Newton had existed back in my university days!   Maybe I'd have
spent less time organizing/doing my work and even more time listening to
Hendrix and Airplane and Cream and Dylan and ...   Actually, maybe it
wouldn't have accomplished all that for me, but the time I did spend working
would've been even more productive.   That's assuming the dinosaurs would've
let me plug my Newton into the wall socket in my cave to recharge it.  ;-)


And there are other ways to use links between stuff.  Something that just
hits me is that if I were writing a thesis now, I **might** get yet another
Newton and devote it exclusively to my sources:  authorities (published or
in lecture form), interviewees and other sources of research data.  A Names
card per author, with links to other authors when he/she publishes
collaboratively, and with links to the notes I take from each publication.
Likewise links between interviewees where that's relevant.  Further links as
needed to the chapters, footnotes, and so on.  Links to meetings with my
supervisor.   Links between various sources where appropriate.

And of course, since Names allows you to create "groups" of individuals,
sources can be grouped as (for instance) authors, interviewees, lecturers,
and other sources.  Just as in my previous example teachers/classes can be
grouped so that (assuming a bachelor degree situation) teachers/classes in
one's major might be grouped separately from electives or audited classes.
Or whatever.  The Newt is so flexible that some of its limitations are
really just the limits of our imagination.

And of course, moving to a slightly different and not necessarily academic
application, project management and planning can benefit from linking.
Whether it's a fiddly hobby project, like sourcing and purchasing
custom-made parts for building your own astronomy telescope or restoring a
classic car, or something job-oriented that requires organization to execute
steps over a period of time, Names cards can be used to ID the key elements
of the project Names don't have to be people or companies!  Create a card
for each piece of that 1932 Woody you're rebuilding, include it in the Group
you create called "Parts" or something.  Then, link it to a card for the
supplier(s) and to the Dates appointment for when you have to have by (I
assume you need to space out the purchases if like me you don't have the
kind of spare cash that lets you buy it all at once or the kind of space
that lets you store it all), and link it to the note that tells you what to
do with it, and you have a different but maybe helpful way to get things
done on a schedule if you're very busy and life tends to get away from you a
bit.  


Just a little sideways thinking, FWIW.  :-)

 
Shalom. 
Christian 

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

³Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from a Newton.²
            -- what Arthur C. Clarke meant

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1ZzpdPJ7Zr4
(With thanks to Chod Lang)
http://tinyurl.com/29y2dl
http://www.diyplanner.com/node/3942


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